New €900,000 unit at Patrician Centre for Special Education at Holy Child Community School, Sallynoggin, Co. Dublin
The Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin TD, today officially opened the recently completed Patrician Centre for students with special educational needs at the Holy Child Community School, Sallynoggin, Co. Dublin. Holy Child CS currently has over 270 boys and girls attending the mainstream school.
Opening the new centre Minister Hanafin said "today marks a new chapter for the school in its work of being inclusive by addressing the needs of all the students attending the school including those with special educational needs. This new centre has a wider significance as the Centre is part of a landmark development within post-primary education, being the first of its kind in a post-primary school in the Dublin region, and one of the very few across the country."
The new centre at the school consists of two classrooms, a central resource area, a kitchen, utility area and ancillary accommodation and can cater for up to 16 students with significant special educational needs. The Department of Education and Science grant aided the project over €900,000 to cover the conversion and refurbishment works required.
Minister Hanafin acknowledged the influence of the trustees of the school, the Sisters of the Holy Child, "who have inspired the school to embrace an ethos of inclusivity for all students and to engage with enthusiasm and dedication the opportunity to include students with special educational needs in their school.
With the whole movement toward the inclusion of students with special educational needs within mainstream education, I am very aware that there will be a need for more dedicated units, such as this, in post-primary schools in the future. The work that Holy Child Community School has undertaken with the development of this centre serves as an excellent model for future developments of this kind."
The Minister acknowledged the work of the school principal, Brian McNamara, and especially his leadership and support for the development of this new educational centre within the school. "From the beginning of this work, the school management and staff, along with the parents, were anxious that these very special students would not be isolated from the rest of the students and from the life of the school. This school's educational focus has been on identifying each student's strengths and developing these as fully as possible."
Minister Hanafin said she was confident that the facilities in the Patrician Centre "would support and facilitate the work of the staff and the school in seeking to provide the best possible educational outcomes for its students with special learning needs in an integrated and inclusive manner in mainstream post-primary education."
ENDS